


Foxiyo Week 2020

by Luminous_Gremlin



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-29
Updated: 2021-01-04
Packaged: 2021-03-11 00:35:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 8,624
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28396269
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Luminous_Gremlin/pseuds/Luminous_Gremlin
Summary: A collection of all my writing for Foxiyo Week 2020 on Tumblr
Relationships: Riyo Chuchi/CC-1010 | Fox
Kudos: 35





	1. Monday: Routines

Riyo had her routine for the first day of the week, and she rarely strayed from it: wake up, eat breakfast, go to her office at the Senate, answer messages, and prepare for her afternoon meetings. Another day as a Senator, where things were planned and very few things actually went according to plan.

However, she could always count on one thing happening right on schedule.

Midmorning, she heard someone outside knock on her office door. Smiling to herself, she got up to answer. Another part of her routine for the day – and her favorite part.

On the other side of the door stood Commander Fox of the Coruscant Guard, fully armored including his helmet. He held a datapad in his hands.

“Senator Chuchi, good day,” said Fox.

“Good day to you, Commander,” Riyo returned his greeting with a smile.

“Here is today’s security report for you, ma’am,” said Fox as he handed Riyo the datapad. “Please contact me if you have any questions or concerns.”

“I will, thank you, Commander,” said Riyo.

“Right, good day, ma’am.” With that, Fox went on his way.

When the door closed behind him, Riyo went to sit back down at her desk, and she looked over the datapad Fox gave her. To the unsuspecting observer, it was an ordinary security report: it reported that all automated security measures at both the main chamber and the executive office building were operating within normal parameters, and there were no incursions or attempted break-ins or hostage situations with bounty hunters. Although the words before her were a verbatim copy of the official report Fox delivered to his superiors, Riyo knew he made a datapad just for her and she held it in her hand.

She tapped her finger on the screen just above the day’s date, and another set of text popped up where the security report had just been.

_Riyo, getting to see you and speak to you even for a few seconds is the best part of my day._

The words were gone after thirty seconds, and the screen displayed the security report again. But that was enough time for Riyo to read Fox’s message twice over. She leaned back in her chair, hugging the datapad to her chest, smiling and thinking about how getting to see him, no matter how briefly, was the best part of _her_ day.

* * *

The following day, Fox sat in his office sorting through his seemingly infinite paperwork, trying to prioritize what needed to be done sooner rather than later. He would need to get started on another security report that was due in two days – did he have an extra datapad to make a copy of the report to deliver to Riyo? What was he going to say to her in that one? It was an important part of his paperwork routine, dare he say the most important part.

Right on schedule, Commander Thorn came bursting through his office door with a small package under his arm.

“Fox, it’s care package day!” Thorn declared.

“I know, it’s the boys’ favorite day of the week,” said Fox. He looked at the package under Thorn’s arm.

“Yeah, that one group of Senators sure knows how to treat a clone.” Thorn handed the package to Fox. “One Senator in particular,” he added, wiggling his eyebrows suggestively.

“Shut it,” said Fox as his cheeks and ears grew warmer.

“Still need me to cover for you this weekend?”

“Always. Still need me to cover for you tonight?”

“Always.” Thorn flashed a wide grin and left the office.

Fox turned his attention to the package in his hands, wrapped neatly in red-and-gold paper with a tag reading _For Commander Fox_. He carefully peeled off the paper, revealing a box that contained a few small cakes, filled with fruit and glazed with a sugary frosting.

On the inside of the box lid, he saw some writing: _I hope you like these. Something sweet for the sweetest Commander in the GAR._

He smiled as he picked up a cake and looked it over. He had an idea for what to say in his next message to Riyo.

* * *

Two days later, Riyo sat in her office composing messages to her constituents on Pantora. At the usual time that morning, she heard characteristic knocking on her door, and she got up to answer.

It was Fox with another security report.

“Senator, here’s the second biweekly security report,” he said as he handed the datapad to her.

“Thank you Commander,” Riyo said. She reached to take the datapad, and she took the opportunity to brush her fingers against Fox’s as she did. Deep down she cursed the rules that forbade Coruscant Guard troopers from removing their helmets while on duty and in public, for she wanted to see his face even for a second.

When she returned to her desk, she tapped the screen in the usual place to see the secret message that would appear for only thirty seconds.

_Your weekly gift was indeed sweet, how can I compete with that? There’s nothing in the known universe sweeter than you._

That was a lie, she thought, because Fox existed.

* * *

The following day, Fox sat in his office and checked his messages. He had a few messages from other clone commanders, the Coruscant police force, and the Senate Guard, but there was one in particular he looked for that arrived on that day every week.

He found the message in question, sent from a “Blue Ice Lily” using an account not tied to any official Republic or Senate business. Opening it, he saw the message: _Usual place and time?_

_Yes,_ he responded. He was never one to refuse her invitations, but there was a strange comfort to sending an official reply. It was part of their routine, after all.

Later that evening, Fox left the barracks in his speeder once he was off-duty. He put on some civilian clothes and a standard speeder helmet with a visor (to hide his face while out in public) and made his way to Riyo’s apartment, making sure to obey traffic laws to the letter.

Riyo lived in a spacious apartment on the top floor of a building that housed her staff as well as a few other junior Senators and their staff. The apartment had an open balcony with an expansive view of the city skyline, and the balcony was large enough to park a speeder. That balcony was where Riyo waited when Fox arrived, just as the setting sun bathed Coruscant in a golden light.

He climbed out of his speeder, removed his helmet, and threw it into the driver’s seat before making his way over to Riyo.

“I hope I’m not late, the hyper lanes were a little congested,” said Fox, smiling as his eyes met Riyo’s.

“No, you’re right on time,” Riyo returned. She wasted no time in reaching up to kiss him, taking his face in her hands as her lips met his. Fox in turn took her into his arms, relaxing and savoring the closeness he had been craving the entire week.

Riyo ended the kiss after a few seconds, too soon for his liking. She pulled away a bit to look up at him and rested her hands on his shoulders.

“I take it you liked the cakes I sent?” she asked.

“They were delicious,” he said. “Send more in next week’s care package?”

“Of course.”

“Are the biweekly security reports to your liking?” Fox asked cheekily.

“They are, I appreciate receiving them,” answered Riyo, the tone of her voice matching his. “They say everything they need to say.”

Fox grinned.

A moment of comfortable, content silence passed. Riyo’s arms snaked back around his neck, and he leaned down to rest his forehead against hers.

“I love the little routines we have through the week, but I always look forward to nights like these,” said Fox, “because we get to spend time together.”

“Took the words right out of my mouth,” Riyo said softly. She took Fox’s hand and led him inside her apartment.


	2. Tuesday: Trust

After her work at the Senate was concluded for the day, Riyo made her way to the Coruscant Guard barracks at Fox’s invitation … well, the tone of his message was less of an invitation and more of an insistence. She wasn’t quite sure what he had on his mind, and she hoped something wasn’t wrong.

He was waiting outside the barracks’ front entrance to greet her when she arrived. Since they were in public, with other troopers and military officials buzzing around, the two greeted each other formally.

“Commander, good evening,” said Riyo.

“Senator, if you would follow me please.” Fox replied.

Riyo nodded, and Fox turned around to lead her into the barracks. She followed him through the halls, past the mess and lounge, through a corridor at the far end of the building. On the other side of the corridor was a shooting range. Durasteel walls divided long narrow lanes, the start of which was marked with a white line on the ground approximately a hundred meters from the wall. The far walls and the walls that divided each lane were ray shielded, presumably to absorb stray blasts that missed their marks. The range was empty, except for a few droids cleaning up pieces of targets in some of the lanes.

Once they were inside, Fox shut the door to the range, entered a code in the keypad next to the door, and then removed his helmet.

“Fox, what is this about?” she asked him.

“I got you something,” Fox set his helmet down on a nearby bench and pulled a blaster out of one of his holsters. Unlike one of his military-grade DC weapons, it was a small sleek silver pistol.

“You got me a blaster?” Riyo asked, raising an eyebrow. “I don’t know how to shoot.”

It dawned on her, the reason for Fox’s invitation.

“Fox, with the local police, the Senate Guard, and you and your brothers, I don’t think I need –“

“Riyo, please listen.” Fox interrupted her as he took a step closer. “In the time we’ve known each other you’ve infiltrated a Separatist ship with Commander Tano, been taken hostage by bounty hunters, and the Separatists attacked the city’s power grid. Either you find danger or danger finds you. I want you to be able to protect yourself … in case I’m not there.”

That phrase, in case I’m not there, and the implications it carried hung in the air between them. She looked over Fox’s face, seeing the sincerity and concern in his eyes as he held out the blaster to her. Her experience with a blaster was limited, a skill she never felt the need to master since she did have armed guards throughout her political career. Yet the war had come a little too close to home for comfort. He was right, and she knew it.

“All right.” She took the blaster from Fox and looked it over, wrapping her hand around the barrel and examining the trigger.

“First rule: always assume the safety’s off. It’s right here, by the way-“ Fox pointed to the safety switch on the side of the barrel. He showed her how to turn the safety on and off by rotating the switch back and forth, and she repeated the motion after him.

“Next rule: don’t point that at anyone or anything you don’t intend to shoot.” He went over to the control panel by the nearest lane and pressed a couple of buttons. A floating circular target descended from the ceiling, hovering ten meters away from the white line at the start of the lane.

“And I pull the trigger to shoot? Sounds easy enough.” Riyo walked up to the white line, holding the blaster in one hand as she raised it above eye level and pointed at the target.

“Riyo, wait –“

She aimed the best she could and pulled the trigger. A blue bolt fired from the barrel, with only a little kickback. The bolt whizzed right over the target and hit the ray shield against the far wall.

“And my next rule: wait for me to explain how to use that thing before you start firing away,” said Fox.

“Oh, sorry,” said Riyo nervously.

“Ah it’s all right, I’ve made my fair share of rookie mistakes. Let’s start with your stance.”

Fox nudged her legs and feet into place gently with his own feet, then used his hands to adjust her shoulders and hips so they were square with one another. Even though he was only touching her like that to make her firing stance the best it could be, her breath hitched, and something fluttered in her stomach. She wondered if he was feeling something similar, or if one of the benefits of his training was that he could compartmentalize and keep his focus on the task at hand.

He then came around behind her back, leaning in close as he guided her hands with his own to readjust her grip on her blaster. She felt the hard surface of his breastplate against her back, and his chin briefly brushed against the hair on the top of her head. He also stole a second to hold her hand in his own before placing it at the base of the grip. 

Perhaps he wasn’t completely focused, Riyo thought. A warm flush bloomed in her chest and rose to her face. It didn’t matter if she was an ace sharpshooter at the end of his lesson, since she relished the closeness between them. It didn’t come as often as either of them liked. Maybe she would ask him to show her how to shoot a rifle next.

“And to aim -” Fox explained the best strategies for aiming that particular blaster since it didn’t have a scope attached to it. He moved Riyo’s hands with his own so the blaster aligned with her line of sight the way it needed to. As he talked he leaned his head over Riyo’s shoulder, his cheek lightly touching hers. Perhaps because of their closeness, Fox’s voice dropped in volume and register, and it sent a tingle down her spine.

Her mind was drifting away from his lesson.

“Got it?” Fox asked, bringing her back to the present moment.

“I think so.”

“All right, show me.” With that, Fox stepped away, releasing her from his grasp. Riyo suddenly felt vulnerable without him around her, but she couldn’t get too flustered or bothered. It wouldn’t do in an actual dangerous situation.

Taking Fox’s advice into account, she aimed for the target again and pulled the trigger. She hit the target on its edge, pieces of it shattering off and hitting the ground.

“Nice job!” Fox was back at her side near instantly, and he leaned in to give her a kiss on the cheek. She smiled in response, taking joy in how proud he looked.

“Now hit it in the center.”

Riyo wasted no time in aiming and firing. It took her a couple of misses, but she hit the target in its center, shattering it completely.

“Not even a shiny could have done it better,” said Fox happily as he leaned in again to kiss her on the lips. He pulled away and asked “Want to try from a little farther away?”

“Only if I get more kisses as rewards for good shots!”

“You know I’d kiss you any time for any reason or no reason at all,” Fox responded as he returned to the control panel and pushed buttons to bring down another target. The new target sat twenty meters away from Riyo. “But if it motivates you I’m happy to oblige.”

“Hmm, I wonder what I would get if I can hit a target from all the way back,” said Riyo with a hint of suggestiveness in her tone.

“Oh I’ll think of something,” said Fox. “But do it first. Give me reason to trust you can handle yourself with that, and you can trust me to make this all worth your while.”

Riyo smirked at him, then turned her attention back to her target. Knowing her, and knowing Fox, neither of them would be waiting for her to reach that goal before they got around to engaging in the implied activities. Still, she intended to put in some work before it was all said and done. She raised the blaster, aimed at the target, and fired.


	3. Wednesday: Agony

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (Content note: this one has a bit of violent imagery, but nothing too graphic)

Riyo woke to the sensation of Fox shifting around next to her in bed. Usually he didn’t toss and turn; he tended to sleep still as a board, and she wondered if he was all right.

She rolled over to her other side to face him, watching as his silhouette thrashed back and forth. He was mumbling something incoherent, and she wondered if she should wake him.

Suddenly, he shot upright and let out a panicked scream.

Riyo instantly sat up next to him. She reached over to her nightstand to turn on a lamp, casting a soft gold light into the bedroom. Next to her, Fox sat doubled over, head in his hands and shuddering as he frantically muttered “No, no, this isn’t happening.”

“Fox, are you all right?” Riyo asked softly. She reached out to him, intending to place her hand on his shoulder, but drew it away right before making contact. Fox remained hunched over.

“Mission,” Fox choked out, “I failed my mission.”

“Fox, you’re safe,” Riyo assured him in a calm yet strangled voice. She watched and waited for a few seconds. Fox continued to curl in on himself until he was in a fetal position, and he was still as a statue. There was no way of knowing what was going on in his mind, what terrors or agony visited his dreams. And all she could do was sit there and watch. She felt helplessness weighing on her chest. 

After a few tense, silent, dreadful moments, Fox uncoiled himself. Although he remained hunched over some, he turned to look at her. The terror in his eyes melted into shame, and he didn’t hold eye contact with her for long. Instead, he opted to look down at his shaking hands.

“A nightmare?” Riyo asked him.

Fox didn’t respond. He didn’t look at her. He kept his eyes on his hands.

“What happened? Tell me, please.”

He shook his head. “No- I can’t-“

Riyo scooted closer to him. She reached out again, pausing as her hand floated right over his shoulder. He didn’t move, didn’t respond, he only sat in place in a tired resignation. She gently lowered her hand onto him, rubbing his skin gently in a rhythm she hoped was soothing.

“You can’t know,” murmured Fox.

“Can’t know what?”

“Can’t … can’t say.” He still would not look up at her.

Riyo bit her lip. She desperately wanted to help him, wanted him to open up about what was troubling him, but that was something she couldn’t force. 

“It’s all right to be vulnerable sometimes, it’s all right to let someone take care of you when you’re not feeling your strongest. You don’t always have to be strong.”

A moment of silence. Maybe it was one of those things she couldn’t help him with, and that thought made her heart sink: to have to watch the man she loved suffer and be unable to ease his suffering.

“I feel so weak,” Fox confessed. “Every time this happens.”

“You’ve had this nightmare before?”

He nodded. “I have, but never when I was with you. I … I didn’t want you to see me like this.”

Riyo leaned in and pressed a kiss to his temple. “I love you,” she whispered as she slid her hand on top of his and interlaced their fingers, “and you are one of the strongest and most resilient people I know.”

In turn, Fox rested his head against hers and let out an exhale that seemed to deflate all the tension from his body. “I love you too.”

“What do you need?” she asked.

“Just hold me?”

* * *

Fox’s head cleared over the following hour. He dared not go back to sleep, not yet. Sleep did return eventually, when he and Riyo laid back in bed with his head nestled on her chest and her fingers lightly stroking his scalp.

He never wanted to leave her arms. He felt treasured, and at peace, and hearing her heartbeat pulse in his ears anchored him in the present moment where he knew nothing could hurt him. She made him feel safe in a way a whole battalion of his brothers never could. He felt confident that as long as he was in her embrace, the nightmare that tormented him since childhood would not return.

It didn’t matter that he was a grown man, every time he had the nightmare he felt like a young boy experiencing it for the first time.

Every time, he heard an ethereal and sinister voice say the number “sixty-six” over and over again, and somehow that number sent him on a mission. Instead of dead Separatists or piles of droid scraps, the mission always ended with blood-soaked Jedi robes.

Every time it was a different Jedi: Yoda, Windu, Kenobi, Skywalker, younglings.

Every time it ended with a blaster bolt or a lightsaber tearing through him, or a malevolent force snapping his neck like a twig.

Every time, he woke up screaming.

Maybe one day, he would have it in him to tell Riyo about the nightmares. He would be able to tell her about the images and voices in his head that could make one of the most highly trained and decorated soldiers in the Grand Army of the Republic feel so weak. But he didn’t want to scare her away; he loved her, and he didn’t want to burden her with that knowledge. And he didn’t even know what they meant. Each nightmare terrified him, and they were too real, almost like they were more than dreams.


	4. Thursday: Shatter

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In which I throw canon out the window and play around in an AU where our heroes contemplate the state of the galaxy and their place in it after the fall of the Republic. Might turn it into a multichapter one day? Haven’t decided yet.

Fox rarely went to space during his time in the Coruscant Guard, and on those few occasions he did it was a treat. He would marvel at how seemingly infinite the universe was, the multitudes it contained, and in his most far-flung dreams he imagined traveling to see it all.

That was before.

He looked out the viewport of the transport ship he and Riyo were on, staring out into the blackness of space and the bright dots in the distance, and he felt small. Empty. Insignificant. Instead of speculating about the worlds that existed parsecs beyond his line of sight, he only thought about his brothers and how he abandoned them.

How a sergeant had originally been assigned to escort Riyo to Pantora, and he tried to pull rank to replace him but it was too late since the paperwork had already been filed, so he bribed the sergeant into trading armor and trading places. How that same sergeant didn’t properly maintain his commlink so it shorted out and Fox couldn’t receive updates when he saw the news on the Holonet that the Separatists attacked Coruscant. How he should have been there during that and all the chaos that unfolded in the following days. How he had forsaken his duty so he could be with Riyo. How he failed his brothers, the people of Coruscant, and the Republic – no, it was an Empire now, he reminded himself.

It was what he deserved, he supposed, to disappear into the large unforgiving darkness of space and allow it to consume him.

There was something else that he couldn’t reconcile. Fox knew that the Jedi and the Senate were often bedfellows, and he guessed it wasn’t outside the realm of possibilities that the Jedi would try to take control of the Republic, but to execute them all? Even the younglings? His stomach churned, thinking about how his brothers and the 501st worked together to slaughter children. His fellow troopers in the Coruscant Guard all adored children, or at least tolerated them, and he couldn’t imagine any of them being capable of cold-blooded murder. The 501st marching on the Temple baffled him too, they had a Padawan as a commanding officer for a time … ironic, maybe being expelled and leaving the Order was the best thing to happen to Tano.

If he was there, he could have ordered his men to stand down. To spare the children. Or at least to try and save some of them.

He didn’t think he could ever go back even if he wanted to.

If it weren’t for Riyo, he would have just let his guilt immobilize him. She stood next to him at the viewport, a shawl over her head and makeup to conceal her facial markings, her own eyes unfocused. She hadn’t told them where they were going, because she herself didn’t know. He couldn’t blame her; watching the democracy and diplomacy she believed in crumble in real time must have been as difficult for her as it was for him to watch the Jedi Temple burn on the Holonet.

Fox felt Riyo’s fingers brush against the back of his hand. Taking that as a sign, he clasped his hand around hers. He hoped she was as comforted by it as he was. Nothing made sense anymore, he didn’t know what came next for them, but as long as she was at his side there was a chance things could be all right again.

* * *

After he took her hand, Riyo looked up at Fox. He had traded his own armor for a sergeant’s to sneak away and join her on Pantora, but he cast off the armor in favor for plain civilian’s clothes, including a hood and a set of goggles to conceal and distort his facial features. It felt like he was all she had left in the universe.

Part of her mind screamed that they should have been on Coruscant, maybe they could have done something to preserve the Republic … but if Senators Organa and Amidala and their delegation couldn’t, what hope could one junior Senator have? Her heart sank and her stomach tied in knots as she watched Palpatine’s address to the Senate on the Holonet and heard more than half the chamber applaud it. Her worst fears about the Republic had been confirmed: no one cared about democracy anymore, no one cared about fighting for their people. So she resigned in protest, refused to pledge loyalty to the new Empire, and those actions drove a wedge between herself and her fellow Pantorans. Even her parents and her sisters.

Did she do the right thing, throwing her career and her family away? Did she do the right thing in disavowing the Empire? She could have stayed, plastered on the fake smile she perfected in her time as a politician, and tried to fix things from the inside. Her colleagues could have been her allies, she wouldn’t have been alone.

There was no use dwelling on “what if,” she reminded herself. The river had been crossed, the bridge had been burned. She was responsible for the consequences.

The last two people she had spoken to were Senators Organa and Amidala. Padme looked both exhausted and restless during their call; she advised Riyo not to return to Coruscant just yet and promised to get in touch later after she took care of some personal matters. A few days later, Bail called to tell her that Padme died … he didn’t elaborate on the how or why, but he told her that if she was going to publicly make herself an enemy of the Empire she needed to hide. He gave her a set of coordinates and instructions to take the long way and multiple transports to get there, to travel in disguise as a war refugee, and to contact him once she got there. Riyo knew she could trust Bail with her life, but she hated not knowing what their final destination was … and she knew it frustrated Fox too.

She looked at Fox, and she knew he had lost everything too. The terror in his eyes, the lines of guilt on his face that formed as he watched the news about how his brothers destroyed an institution they were sworn to protect, those were images that would live in her mind forever. Loyalty and duty were everything to the clones, and he threw them both away to accompany her to Pantora. She watched him look out the viewport at the stars, and she could not begin to fathom the guilt and shame that must have felt.

Riyo couldn’t ease his guilt, or her own, and she didn’t know how to begin fixing everything that had fallen apart. All she could do was hold his hand ... and hope.


	5. Friday: Embarrassment

Riyo lay on her couch, hugging a throw pillow to her chest, as she replayed the events of the day in her head. Light from the golden Coruscant sunset shone into the living room from her balcony and her apartment’s windows. Usually she enjoyed watching the sunset, but it was hard to appreciate when she was busy berating herself. She curled around herself even tighter, wishing she could just disappear and cease to exist.

_This is the worst day of my career._

_Worse, my career is over._

_How am I supposed to go back to the Senate after what just happened?_

_What was I thinking?!_

She was so wrapped up in her own mind that she missed the tell-tale sounds of a speeder landing on her balcony, followed by fast frantic footsteps coming her way.

“Riyo?” a familiar voice called out.

Oh no, she thought. She forgot he was coming over.

She pushed herself to sit up, and she saw Fox standing a few feet away from her, dressed in a casual shirt-and-vest outfit rather than his armor, looking at her with an expression full of worry.

“Fox, I’m sorry, I-“

“Are you okay?”

“I-“ Riyo paused, considering his question. “I don’t know.”

“What is it? Tell me,” said Fox as he sat down next to her on the couch.

Riyo bit the inside of her bottom lip and wrung her hands together. At first she was worried that Fox might think less of her, like her colleagues surely did, but she saw how concerned he looked, how he leaned closer and slung his arm around the back of the couch behind her. She remembered how he had that nightmare … if he could trust her with his vulnerability, she should be able to trust him with hers. It was only fair.

“I made a mistake today,” she began. “I- we, a group of us, were on a call with the Senators from the Trade Federation and Kamino. I had the call open as well as a private call with Senator Amidala at the same time, and I thought I had myself muted on the main one … and I made a remark to Padme about how Burtoni would eat her own children if it guaranteed her infinite credits … but I wasn’t muted.”

Fox burst into laughter. Riyo shrunk back. His laughter died when he saw her flinch, and he cleared his throat.

“Sorry, I wasn’t laughing at you, it’s just … you’re not wrong about Burtoni. She’s a … she’s a Kaminoan after all.”

“I’m just so embarrassed,” Riyo groaned, burying her face in the pillow in her arms. “My career is over, there’s no coming back from this.”

“Did you get removed from your position?” Fox asked.

“No ….”

“Then the way I see it, your career’s not over.”

Riyo looked up at him, just as he moved his arm to drape it around her shoulder. She felt so small next to him, and a part of her wanted to melt away and be absorbed into him so she could be a clone Commander instead of a Senator. There would be the constant threat of violence and death, but she imagined they didn’t have to deal with gaffes such as hers as often.

“You don’t bad-mouth fellow Senators where they can hear you, that’s just not something you do!” Riyo said, as if she was sternly reciting a rule out of a handbook. “I’m still a junior Senator, so it’s important I start building my coalitions _now_ , and no one will want to work with me if they knew I would talk about them behind their backs … oh, this is a mess.”

Her head fell to rest on the pillow again. A silence fell between the two, even though Riyo’s mood tinged the air somewhat. She felt Fox’s hand move from her shoulder to her head, where he gently ran his fingers through her hair. The sensation was soothing, and for a moment she forgot her troubles.

“What did Senator Amidala have to say?” Fox asked.

“Not much, after the call she suggested that I apologize to Burtoni.”

“Did you?”

“No, not yet, I couldn’t face her ….”

“Hmm, all right. Good thing I’m off-duty the next couple of days, I’m going to help you put together an apology gift basket.”

“A _gift basket?”_

“Yeah, a couple of the boys got assigned to her security detail not long ago and according to them she was always demanding different kinds of candy. So some candy, some flowers, some other trinkets fancy Senator-types like, and a heartfelt apology.” Fox offered her a small smile. “Or at least one that sounds heartfelt.”

Riyo huffed in amusement. “You think that will help smooth things over?”

“I think it’s at least a start.”

She smiled back at him, and she felt some of her embarrassment melt away.

Fox continued, his tone light and conversational. “Did I mention? Last week I heard Senator Stonk insult the new Rodian Senator _to his face_ , and Stonk’s still in his position.” 

“Did you?” That tidbit of information made Riyo feel a little better, but then she felt silly. Maybe she was making a big deal out of nothing after all.

“I sure did. Besides, Senators gossip about each other all the time. One of the few good things about them not seeing us clones as people is that their lips are always looser around us.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, so you’re in good company in the Senate. Just make sure to mute yourself in the future.”

Riyo rolled her eyes and swatted at him playfully, although her hand didn’t make contact with his body.

“Although truth be told,” Fox leaned in further and lowered the volume of his voice so that he was whispering in her ear, “you’re much better company than Stonk or Burtoni or even Amidala.” He punctuated his sentence by kissing her on the cheek, right on top of her facial markings.

Riyo couldn’t help but smile. “You always know just what to say, Fox,” she said as she turned her face towards him, brushing her lips against his in a light kiss, “thank you.”

His response was to kiss her back, cradling the back of her head in his hand. When the kiss ended, the two didn’t pull completely apart, and remained in place with their foreheads touching. Riyo could feel his breath on her cheek, and the subtle scent of cologne wafted from his clothes up to her nose.

“But now that you’ve mentioned hearing Senate gossip, I’m intrigued,” Riyo said, tracing Fox’s stubble-covered jawline with her fingers.

Fox chortled. “Well, I guess I could share a story or two over dinner and some Pantoran ice wine.”

“You’ve got yourself a deal.”


	6. Saturday: Secret

Being awake in the wee hours of the morning with nowhere to go and nothing to do was oddly peaceful. It was like time froze and nothing else existed. The room was dark, except for soft streaks of lights that came in through the window. Sometimes that light would be briefly obscured by shadows from a passing speeder or spacecraft descending into the lower atmosphere. Coruscant was a planet that never truly slept, it seemed.

Fox had fallen asleep earlier that night, but he found himself awake again. There wasn’t any reason to it; it seemed that his body and mind had just conspired to rouse him from his slumber. At first he was annoyed that it happened, since full nights of sleep were tragically uncommon. But then he felt something shift on top of him. 

He looked to find Riyo, dressed in only his black undershirt, hair loose and messy over her face, her head resting on his bare chest and tucked under his chin. One of her hands rested lazily on his sternum and her legs intertwined with his. One of his arms wrapped around her shoulder, holding her close to him. The other lay at his side, but he soon brought it up so he could use his free hand to gently brush her hair out of her face, with the lightest pressure he could, so he wouldn’t disturb her. In response to his touch, she stirred slightly and shifted to snuggle even closer into him. 

Fox wanted that moment to last forever. His heart was so full, he felt like it was going to burst. 

Which was why it hurt so much to have to keep their relationship a secret. Every time he patrolled through the city, he would see couples walking along the streets and promenades, hand in hand, arms around each other, sharing smiles and sweet words and chaste kisses. Normal people living their normal lives and getting to do the things normal people did. He wanted to do all those things with Riyo – not out of a need to legitimize their status as a couple, he knew she loved him, but he wanted to show all of Coruscant what they had. That she was his, and he was hers.

How he wished the sun could shine on their love. He desperately wanted to be able to give her more than short stolen moments in the hallways of the Senate, or secret love notes coded into datapads, or liaisons hidden under the cover of night. But being discovered was not a risk he wanted to take. Riyo would likely not suffer any repercussions due to her status as a Senator and free citizen, but he was property of the Republic, not legally a person, and it was against both law and regulation for him to be in a romantic relationship with anyone. They would be separated; he would be sent back to Kamino to be reconditioned and reassigned (or worse). He would forget all about her, a consequence that paled in comparison to the prospect of her heartbreak in such a situation, but he never wanted to forget her no matter what happened. Being with her, feeling her skin against his as she lay sleeping in his arms, was worth the secrecy and the broken laws.

Fox thought about the war. It had dragged on for nearly three years, with no end in sight. Very few clones talked openly about any hopes they had for life after the war, and many of them acted like it was a taboo subject. He had never given the topic much thought until he met Riyo. There had been whispers in the halls of the Senate about a potential new bill, one that would grant full legal personhood to the clones after the war ended. Those whispers sent the gears in his head spinning in overdrive, and he immediately knew that if given the opportunity he would resign from the army and ask her to marry him. Some of his brothers may have shared dreams of being commercial starship pilots or artists, but a life with Riyo was all he wanted.

Riyo shifted again. “Fox, are you awake?” she asked quietly, her voice groggy.

“Yeah, I’m awake,” he answered, bringing up his hand to smooth over her hair again. “Something wrong?”

“Mmm, can’t sleep.”

“Neither can I,” Fox planted a soft kiss on top of her head, “but we should try.” He gave her shoulders a squeeze to briefly hold her closer to him.

“You’re right,” sighed Riyo.

A moment of silence. 

“I love you,” Riyo whispered.

“And I love you,” Fox returned. His heart once again felt like it would burst.

Fox knew their time together was always fated to be brief, whether because of the nature of war or because of his accelerated aging. There would be no growing old with her. He was fated to leave her behind … but he tried not to think about that. Instead, he was determined to make every moment with her count, so she would have a treasure trove of fond memories when the day came that he was no longer with her. Even if the only memories she would be left with were of secret meetings and messages and intimate moments that occurred in the shadows and the cover of night. He told himself to accept that it would have to be enough.


	7. Sunday: Fearless

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This entry takes place in a happily-ever-after AU, approximately five years after Palpatine is exposed and removed from power. No good guys die, no one falls to the Dark Side.

When he was a soldier, there was very little in his day-to-day duties that scared Fox. Fear of blaster fire, explosions, blood, violence, injury, and death had been conditioned out of his psyche during his training. As a result, he had considered himself fairly unflappable. But then he fell in love, and with that love came fear of heartbreak and fear of loss. And when he and Riyo learned they were expecting a baby, another fear came to him: that he would not be a good father. Then the day came when he held his newborn daughter for the first time, and his love for her greatly outweighed his fears.

At four years old, little Mira Chuchi was almost a perfect mix of her parents. She had her mother’s blue skin and crescent-shaped markings on her cheeks, and her father’s deep brown eyes and curly black hair. At first Fox worried that she would age quickly like he did, but by both human and Pantoran metrics she was aging at the same rate as any other natural-born child from either species. That brought him relief, since it meant she could have the normal happy childhood he never got.

“Tell me a bedtime story, Papa?” Mira asked once she was settled into bed, snuggled up under the covers. Fox sat perched on the edge of the bed next to her and she looked up at him with big bright eyes. She clutched a stuffed tooka plushie in her arms.

“I would love to,” Fox responded. He wracked his brain, trying to think of a story to tell. His mind settled on one event from his life, from before Mira was born, and he quickly thought of a way to translate it into something child-friendly.

“Once there was a soldier, one of the bravest soldiers in the entire Republic. He always did the right thing and helped people and stopped every bad guy he crossed. One day a giant monster came to Coruscant and terrorized the city. Rawwrrr!” He let out a roar and raised his hands into claws before diving in to lightly tickle at Mira. She giggled in response to being tickled.

“The monster was big and scary, and it tried to eat the people in the city. It tried to eat a little girl, but the brave soldier swooped in and saved her just in time! Carried her away and gave her back to her mom. And he saved many more people from being eaten too!”

“Did the soldier beat the monster?” Mira asked innocently.

Maybe it was best to lie a little bit, he thought, for entertainment’s sake. She didn’t need to know that in reality he had been hit in the face by the Zillo Beast’s claws.

“Yes, he did. All by himself. He shot a cable and tied it around the monster’s legs, and it fell onto the ground!” He slapped his hand onto the bed for dramatic effect. “And then … then he stunned the monster and loaded it onto a starship and flew it to a far away planet where it could live with others of its kind. Then the soldier returned to Coruscant and was rewarded for being the bravest and most fearless soldier in the entire galaxy.”

Mira narrowed her eyes in a skeptical scrutiny. “That’s not your best bedtime story, Papa.”

Fox stifled a laugh. She was just like her mother.

A laugh came from the doorway of the bedroom, and Fox turned to see Riyo standing there. She leaned against the doorway, dressed in her burgundy-and-gold skirt and jacket that she often wore to the Senate. She must have just gotten home from work, Fox thought.

“Momma!” Mira squeaked excitedly. She sat up and looked up at her mother with a toothy grin.

“Hello, my baby,” cooed Riyo as she walked over to the bed and knelt beside her daughter.

“Papa told me a bedtime story about the bravest soldier and a monster!”

“I heard,” said Riyo as she smoothed a hand over the top of Mira’s hair.

“Apparently it wasn’t my best work,” shrugged Fox.

Riyo chuckled. “Well since Mira’s going to sleep you’ll have plenty of time to think of a better one.” She turned her attention back to Mira. “If I’m home when you go to bed tomorrow _I’ll_ tell you a bedtime story, how’s that?”

“Okay Momma,” said Mira. She lay back down, snuggled into her pillow, and Riyo drew the covers back over her to tuck her back in.

Riyo then leaned in to kiss Mira on the forehead. “Sleep tight, my baby. I love you.”

Fox then gave Mira little kisses on her cheek and forehead. “Love you, starlight. Good night.”

“Good night. Love you Momma, love you Papa.”

Fox then followed Riyo out of Mira’s room, turning off the lights and closing the door behind him. The two went to the living room; as Riyo plopped herself down on the couch and leaned back, Fox went into the kitchen to grab a bottle of wine and two glasses. On his way back into the living room, he caught his reflection in a window by the dining table. He went back and forth on how he felt about the streaks of gray hair around his temples; it was a sign he was getting older, which shouldn’t have surprised him, yet he counted himself lucky that he was going gray rather than bald.

“You’re the bravest, most fearless soldier in the entire galaxy now?” Riyo asked with a smirk as Fox sat down next to her. She leaned over to plant a kiss on his cheek. 

“Well, every kid wants to think their dad’s a hero,” answered Fox as he poured out the wine. “Besides, you should hear the stories Rex tells his kids!” He handed a glass to Riyo.

“How is Rex these days?”

“He’s doing great. He, his husband, and their kids will actually be on Coruscant next week, and I’m looking forward to Mira finally getting to meet her cousins.”

“That will be so wonderful, we haven’t seen them since their wedding.”

“I know,” said Fox wistfully, “and if we can also convince Bly and Secura to come around with their little one, it will really be a party.”

A brief beat of silence passed as they both took drinks.

“How was the Senate today? You’re home late.” Fox asked.

Riyo let out a deep, long sigh, then leaned her head on Fox’s shoulder. He wrapped his arm around her and drew her in closer to him.

“It’s like pulling teeth. There are still so many warmongers and Palpatine loyalists. Padme and I are doing everything we can to get them to come across and support Chancellor Organa’s efforts to rebuild worlds devastated by the war, but we’re getting nowhere.” 

“Maybe I resigned too soon,” said Fox, “if I were still with the army I could inspire them to cooperate. Or I’ll call Wolffe and ask him to pay them a visit.”

“Tempting, but don’t worry about it. Diplomacy will win.”

“I know it will, you and Amidala are the best of the best.” Fox pressed his lips to Riyo’s forehead.

“I just wish things would work out, I feel like I barely get to see Mira anymore. I know Padme’s missing her babies too.”

“This won’t last forever, things will be normal again one day,” said Fox, trying to sound reassuring. “But we can figure out ways for you and Mira to spend more time together until then. She knows the work you do is important, but she misses you too.”

Riyo craned her head upward to brush her lips against Fox’s jaw. “You’re such a wonderful father. Even better husband.” She snuggled back into him and wrapped an arm around his torso.

Fox smirked and rubbed his hand up and down Riyo’s arm. “Careful, keep talking like that and I’ll get to work on making Mira a big sister,” he said mischievously.

Riyo sat up and looked him dead in the eye. “I was actually thinking about asking you if you wanted to try for another child soon. We’d have to talk more about it in depth, I just want to know if we’re on the same page first.”

“Definitely.” He grinned from ear to ear. The thought of having another baby made his heart swell with joy.

The two leaned towards each other, meeting with a kiss in the middle. They then remained in place, their foreheads resting against one another.

“I love you so much,” Riyo murmured. “I’m so glad I have you.”

“I’m luckier to have you. I love you from now until the end of time.”

Riyo smiled and reached up to cradle his face in her hand. She kissed him again.

* * *

Later that night as he drifted off to sleep, Fox thought about how the past five years had been beyond anything he ever anticipated. The war ended after Palpatine was discovered to be playing both sides for his own gain, and he was ousted from power and held prisoner by the Jedi. (The Jedi kept him locked up somewhere hidden and were annoyingly secretive about their reasons for it, and they managed to stonewall the Senate at every turn, but that was a headache for another day)

The Republic and the Separatists had a peace treaty and were cordially frosty towards one another in their joint efforts to rebuild worlds hardest hit by the war. Most importantly for him, the Senate voted to grant clones full legal personhood. He resigned his commission without a second thought and asked Riyo to marry him. Miracle upon miracles, she said yes.

He thought back to his days as a cadet on Kamino, how his younger self could never imagine a future where he was husband to a brilliant Senator and father to a wonderful little girl. None of his brothers likely anticipated a future where they could choose their own paths, but the ones who survived the war could. Rex had his husband, kids, and a farm on Alderaan; Bly had Secura and their child and a quiet life on Ryloth; Cody and Wolffe were still in the army but they had fulfillment and a newfound sense of purpose; and his brothers in the Coruscant Guard either transferred to private security work or went to trade schools and universities. He was happy for all of them and prouder than he could put into words. It was better than the best that he once hoped for them. It was what they all deserved.

As for Fox … he had everything he ever wanted since the day he realized he was in love with Riyo. He couldn’t ask for anything else.


End file.
